The two companies, both giants in their own ways in e-commerce, are suing each other in a Delaware court over eBay's purchase of a minority stake in Craigslist, and a subsequent move by Craigslist to cut eBay's shareholdings and board seat.

All of which led Buckmaster to worry if Whitman, and eBay, were "trustworthy."

Whitman, who stepped down as CEO in 2008 and quit eBay's board earlier this year, is running for governor of California. The courtroom revelations about her personality could become an issue in her campaign.

After the launch of Kijiji, an international online classifieds site, a concerned but diplomatic Buckmaster wrote an email to Whitman, saying that the two companies differed in their interpretation of fair competition, and that the Kijiji move "does not feel right coming from a large shareholder privy to our financials and other confidential information."

Whitman responded by thanking Buckmaster for the kind words for herself and eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, but then reasserted her interest in owning Craigslist outright:

[W]e would welcome the opportunity to acquire the remainder of Craigslist Inc. we do not already own whenever you and Craig feel it would be appropriate.

Already wary of Whitman, Buckmaster felt that offer amounted to a declaration that eBay would find a way to own Craigslist, "if necessary over our dead bodies."

Jackson West figures that these revelations about Whitman will actually play pretty well to the Republican Party base she's courting in the gubernatorial primary.